Lazers Drop 2nd Playoff Game to Comets, 4-2

The Lazers finished the regular season with a promising chance of making this their best postseason ever, but now they find themselves on the verge of elimination.

Despite heavy pressure applied from start to finish by the Lazers, the Kansas City Comets turned in a sterling defensive effort in beating the Lazers, 4-2, Saturday night before a Forum crowd of 5,055 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

“We threw everything at them but the kitchen sink,” Lazer Coach Keith Tozer said. “But (Ed) Gettemeier made save after save.”

Gettemeier, the Comets’ goalkeeper, was the most important factor for the Comets’ second win in two nights against the Lazers.

The Comets were outshot, 47-23, in the game, and Gettemeier seemed to make one outstanding save after another.

“It was absolutely the busiest night of my career and absolutely the best,” he said. Gettemeier finished with 18 saves.

The rest of the Comets’ defense also was outstanding, blocking a club-record 27 shots, led by Iain Fraser’s 10.

“If Gettemeier wasn’t there, one of the defenders was,” Tozer said.

The Lazers were playing without starting goalkeeper David Brcic, who sufferred a strained back in Game 1 and is on a day-to-day basis. His backup, A.J. Lachowecki, had 14 saves.

With the game tied, 1-1, to start the second half, the Lazers were quick to regain their momentum of the first half, when they outshot the Comets, 25-9.

Thompson Usiyan needed just 23 seconds to put the Lazers ahead, 2-1, and it looked as though they were on their way to evening things up against their Western Division rivals.

But the Comets countered with a goal by Jan Goossens, his fourth of the series, to tie the game, 2-2, at 5:46 into the third.

With Gettemeier and his defense doing its job successfully, Damir Haramina scored to give the Comets a 3-2 lead at 8:48 of the third period.

The Lazers were still in the game at that point, but when David Doyle jumped onto the field on a line change with the the ball at his feet, things took a turn for the worse.

Doyle promptly drilled a 30-footer past Lachowecki to give the Comets a 4-2 lead with just more than two minutes left.

The Lazers’ hopes now lie in Kansas City, where they will play Game 3 Wednesday at Kemper Arena.

“We’re not dead yet,” Tozer said. “If they can win two games in our building, then we can go there and win two.”

If not, the Lazers will have bowed out of the playoffs in the first round on each of their three appearances.